This invention relates in general to fishing devices and in particular to bobber stoppers for use with slide bobbers.
Although most everyone is familiar with the two-tone, generally sperical bobbers which have a spring and hook arrangement by which they attach to the fishing line, there is another type of bobber frequently used with casting and spinning rods and reels. This other type of bobber is oblong in shape and is free to slide relative to the fishing line so that when casting the line into the water, the length of the tackle hanging beyond the tip of the pole is able to be kept to a minimum. Once the line hits the water, the weight of the sinker pulls the line into the water while the bobber remains afloat. The one item needed with this arrangement to enable the bobber to properly respond is a stopper of some type secured to the fishing line at a preselected location in order to stop the advancement of the line through the slide bobber when this stopper contacts the top of the slide bobber.
One stopper design which is currently available involves the use of a flexible dumbbell-shaped member with a hole adjacent each end. The method of use is to insert the fishing line in one hole, wrap the line around the central part of the stopper body and then out the other hole. While the wrapping around provides the necessary friction to retain the stopper at a fixed location on the line, this also places a twist in the line such that each time a desired fishing depth is changed and the stopper manually moved up or down along the line, the line must twist in order to unwind as the stopper moves due to the spiral wrap of the line around the stopper. Another drawback of the currently available stopper design is that the end holes into which the fishing line is threaded are round and somewhat closely sized to the fishing line diameter. This makes threading of the line difficult and it would thus be an improvement to elongate the holes in order to provide a larger opening.
A still further drawback of such dumbbell-shaped stoppers is that they must be quite small in order to be able to pass through the line aperture or guide of the corresponding spinning or casting reel. Since the required size is quite small, handling and manipulating the stoppers during their placement and threading onto the fishing line becomes quite difficult. In addition, handling of the fishing line is also awkward. It would thus be a significant improvement if a dispenser for such stoppers could be provided which would facilitate this manipulation and enable an anglar to hold such stoppers and the fishing line in a convenient manner while threading the fishing line through the various holes.
While this dumbbell-shaped stopper is believed to represent the closest prior art, there have been other references developed and these are listed below.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee ______________________________________ 2,791,925 Peters 3,747,257 Olsen 3,153,298 Lemon 2,761,238 Shiverdecker 3,174,249 Louden 3,359,676 Crossan ______________________________________
Peters discloses a dispenser for deformable elements such as a fishing sinker wherein a disc-like member of two plys sandwiches therebetween a circular array of such sinkers. Once a fishing line is passed through the split of one sinker and clamped thereto, the sinker may be extracted from the dispenser.
Olsen discloses an adjustable weight bobber having a hollow interior and a removable cap. The interior of the bobber may be filled or partially filled with water, sand or other material to provide a desired amount of ballast so that the bobber may be used in casting and will provide the necessary weight for casting lightweight lures.
Lemon discloses a fishing device in the form of a flasher or a fish lure which is designed to follow a zig zag course as it is drawn through the water.
Shiverdecker discloses an anglar's device intended for weighting a fisherman's line wherein the gross weight of the device can be easily and readily changed in magnitude. The device includes a top hole as well as a bottom hole through which the fishing line is threaded.
Louden discloses a fishing line accessory, the construction of which permits it to be utilized as a casting weight, a sinker, a line connector and even a bobber. One feature of this accessory item is that it may have its position on the line changed due to its particular structure and this changeable location aspect is not available with conventional "split shot" sinkers. A pair of holes are provided at opposite ends of the accessory through which the fishing line is passed.
Crossan discloses a fishing line sinker having a substantially flat central body portion and integral therewith at each end twisted end portions with holes therethrough. The plane of these twisted end portion is perpendicular to the plane of the central body portion and each twisted end has a clearance hole therethrough for threading of the fishing line.
While these various patents relate to various fishing devices and apparata, none disclose a bobber stopper for use with slide bobbers and thus these listed references are believed to be of only limited relevancy to the subject invention.